Dang | 10 September 2026

Jalawati Chaudhary, 48, lives in Basantapur in Ward No. 3 of Rapti Rural Municipality. As Vice-Chairperson of the Switzerland Village Land Rights Forum (VLRF), she helps lead a group of 51 members who meet every month. Each member contributes NPR 50 to a dedicated fund to support their land rights movement and advocacy.  In these gatherings, they discuss about land rights and the Land Issue Resolving Committee, the concerns of the freed Kamaiyas, issues related to environmental protection, and the everyday joys and struggles of their community. Over time, the Forum has become a space where members practice speaking, listening, and standing together. This Village Land Rights Forum is one of the 103 VLRFs having 3,444 members supported by the L4ACT project  .

When this Forum learned that preparations were underway to establish a crusher industry on the public riverbank land on the eastern edge of the Basantapur village, the members immediately recognized the danger. The industry would bring environmental pollution, reduce soil fertility, damage roads, and harm community health. They decided it had to be stopped.

At the ward office, they discovered that a petition with 85 signatures supporting the crusher had already been submitted. The Ward Chairperson advised that a strong additional counter-petition with many more signatures could help to justify prevention of any official recommendation. The Women’s Development Group and the Land Rights Forum moved quickly. They collected 236 signatures of villagers and formally submitted a petition demanding that the industry be not allowed on the public land.

She says- after the petition was registered, officials came to her house and pressured her to withdraw it. They offended her, belittled her, and threatened her. She refused. “This is not just for me,” she told them. “It is for the welfare of the whole village. Even if I lose my life, I will not withdraw the petition.”

The Ward Office ultimately decided not to recommend the establishment of the crusher industry. The public riverbank land remains protected and available for villagers to graze their cattle.

Jalawati working on field

Before this struggle, not may paid any serious attention to the opinion of Jalawati. Today she is regularly invited to village meetings and discussions. Neighbors openly praise her: “You did a good job for the village.” She reflects that joining the VLRF strengthened her courage to speak fearlessly for land rights, deepened her leadership capacity, and hardened her determination to struggle for the community’s welfare.

What began as a discussion in a monthly meeting became a clear victory for local land rights and environmental protection. It was achieved through organized collective action and the quiet, unyielding courage of a woman who refused to be silenced.